Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part I (2010)

Directed by: David Yates
Written by: Steve Kloves
Based on book by: JK Rowling

Accio Previews! (They just keep gettin’ worse, don’t they?)

GREEN HORNET–I was actually a little bit worried about this one. I mean, Seth Rogen as a superhero? Doesn’t really work for me. But it’s a Michel Gondry film, so I have to at least give it a chance, right?

Now that I’ve seen a preview, though, I’m not quite as worried. It looks like it could be a lot of fun. Sure, more comedy than the Hornet was really meant to be, I guess. But whatever. I’ll check it out.

SEASON OF THE WITCH–Erm…Nic Cage as a medieval knight out to save/burn a witch? Bruckheimer type action ensues? Not so sure about this one. Looks like it could be complete crap. But it does have Ron Perlman in it. Maybe it’ll be alright.

What am I talking about? Ron’s been in some shit. Unsureness re-ensured.

TRON LEGACY–Every preview I see for this movie promises that the sequel will indeed be better than the original. A rare occurrence, but not unheard of, of course. And with source material as ripe for re-invention as Tron, this could be fucking amazing. I’m there.

Now, enough previews. Let’s get Harry.

When last we met Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) and his friends, things were indeed looking quite dim for our heroes. Their leader, Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) had been killed by someone that they thought was on their side (kind of). The Dark Lord (Ralph Fiennes) has begun his reign of terror on the Wizarding AND Muggle worlds.

And, of course, our trio had started something even MORE dangerous and frightening: relationships. Serious relationships! Harry had started snogging with Ginny Weasley (Bonnie Wright) and Ron and Hermione (Rupert Grint and Emma Watson) had just started the couple that everyone has pushed for since the first book/movie.

Now, after an attack on Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour’s (Domhnall Gleeson and Clemence Poesy) wedding, Harry, Ron and Hermione know that they have to go it alone. The lives of their loved ones (and perhaps the rest of the world) depends on it.

The rest of the film, after that initial half hour or so of everyone being together, is basically the three of them on the road trying to find Horcruxes (objects that Voldemort’s soul has been broken and stored in…there are four left out of the seven) and destroy them. That’s harder than it sounds because they have no idea what three of them might be. One could be the pencil that Ron just picked up to write a note with. No one really knows.

What really struck me about this installment is how desperate and desolate the whole thing is. All of the characters are so desperate in everything they do that, when there is a bit of comic relief, it’s almost jarring that these people could laugh at all during a time like this. The Trio spend most of the film so pissed off that they’re put in the spot that they’re in that you just can’t believe that they still love each other the way they do. And sometimes they don’t believe it, either. The anger and desperation for normalcy comes through in everything they do. Harry and Hermione try to break it during a beautifully shot scene where they hear a song on the radio (which, until now, has been creepy lists of Wizards who have died) and just start dancing with each other. It’s a much needed break in the darkness that couldn’t come a moment too soon…but it might be all too late.

David Yates, after directing the fifth and sixth installments of the series, has finally found his voice…basically by going back to the third film for inspiration. He’s darkened things up a lot and made the film as desolate as possible. There’s not a single shot of Hogwart’s, but he sets the film instead in ugly, yet beautiful areas of quiet solitude like an abandoned and destroyed trailer park or a moor that has all but dried up and blown away. There are establishing shots that remind me of great 70s films like Dawn Of The Dead or Badlands.

And then there’s the absolute horror of the whole thing. What comes out of the first horcrux they find is so disgustingly blobulous that it’s hard to imagine that you could stay sane actually looking at the thing. (And the images it conjures for Ron are creepy on their own…near nudity and all.) And the less said about the old woman, the better.

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows may well be the best of the series, finally overtaking Prisoner Of Azkaban. We’ll have to see what happens with the second part of the film, but if Yates was able to keep this level of intensity for that second half (and the after the fact 3D doesn’t ruin it), he could well have an amazing film under his belt.

My question is this: what will we do when Harry Potter is over? What will we move onto next? The only series that has done this sort of bank is, unfortunately, Twilight. But it’s so awful that I can’t even fathom thinking of it taking Harry’s place. Narnia is still chugging along and (I think) getting better…we’ll see about the third movie when it comes out. All of the other fantasy series have fallen flat.

What are your thoughts? What’s the next big series that kids and adults will get into?